Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 finale "Hegemony." Read at your own risk!
The Enterprise crew in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds crossed paths with the Gorn once again in the Season 2 finale, "Hegemony," and audiences are treated to their first look at a fully adult version of the species in the series. Suffice it to say, this final form is still a lot different than the one seen during "Arena" in the original series – but based on CinemaBlend's conversation with Legacy Effects' J. Allan Scott, there might be a reason for that.
I had some time following the Season 2 finale to chat with Scott, who spoke at length about the Gorn design in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. With the noted differences between the TOS and SNW versions, I had to know whether or not this redesign was an effort to change the look of the Gorn completely if there are different species of Gorn, or if there are different variations (similar to that of Klingons). Scott couldn't give me a definitive answer, but what he mentioned certainly has me excited for the show's future. Said the filmmaker,
Well, there's a lot to be determined yet. So I can't reveal a whole lot of that. But it's like, yeah, if you look at a bee society, you've got drones, and you've got the queen, and you've got workers, and there's some demarcation. So that doesn't mean that what you're seeing right now is the end of the story.
The idea of the Gorn operating like a bee colony is fascinating, especially in terms of hive hierarchy. It creates a possibility that the Gorn in "Arena" was of a different standing or social status than the ones we've seen thus far in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. As J. Allan Scott mentioned, it's still being determined behind the scenes how to handle the aesthetic difference between the Gorn in the two shows, so nothing is definitive yet.
Even so, the head of makeup effects gave me a great sense of just how this design difference could be handled in the Star Trek lore. He pointed to the way the franchise has changed the Klingons so frequently and also teased that the Gorn in the EV suit may not be representative of the adult creature's actual form. He added,
Your analogy about the Klingons is great because you can legitimize every design of the Klingons based on genetics and even roles like, ‘Oh, we're gonna engineer certain things of it, or they're just different tribes or different lineages.’ So, yeah, there's a lot of opportunities, and I think we're just scratching the surface right now. It's great that even though we've designed the different life cycles, there's still a lot to be revealed. We haven't even seen the whole thing. We've just seen his face. So it's exciting to see it can still continue to change and adjust. Just because we're establishing something right now doesn't mean [it’s permanent.] it's like, ‘Well, that was just a particular kind of suit that was enhanced.’
The part near the end has me wondering if that tail was the real length for an adult Gorn in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, or was it an exoskeleton attachment linked into a much smaller tail like the one on the version from The Orignal Series. That may not be the case considering the hatchlings and younglings also have long tails, but let's not rule anything out just yet!
Co-showrunner Henry Alonso Myers implied to CinemaBlend back in 2022 that the Gorn in Strange New Worlds were an improved design of the classic species seen in TOS. Given the current information we have, it would appear that it's still up for debate for Season 3 and other upcoming Trek shows.
The ending of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 guaranteed that the Gorn will return in Season 3, thanks to the cliffhanger ending. Captain Pike has a huge decision to make as a number of his crew and survivors of the Kayuga are aboard a Gorn warship. Perhaps this conflict will bring more revelations about the Gorn and even confirm they aren't quite so different from the ones introduced in the original series after all.
Watch all of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 right now with a Paramount+ subscription. Due to the WGA writers' strike and SAG-AFTRA strike, it could be a while before Season 3 arrives, so it may not be a bad time for a rewatch of a classic Trek series as well.
